: : :
: : Admittedly we English have a tendency to delight in mockery - many have accused
us of having both deprecation and self-deprecation as national characteristics.
However, despite this, I've not yet found any acceptable US equivalent for the
above - "tease" is not colloquial, and I am sure that "pulling someone's leg"
is as old-fashioned as it is over here.

: : : : : Is there a contemporary equivalent
idiom?

: : : : Don't you know we Americans never EVER make fun of one another?

:
: : : Here are a few I can think of -

: : : : To mess with someone, as in "I
was just messing with him" or the more crass "shitting" as in "He was shitting
me"

: : : : I usually resort to the non-colloqial "making fun of"

: : : :
On a more serious note, I'm not sure there is an equivalent - at least not in
the sense of a thing which one does to someone else. Perhaps it's because mocking
is seen as more malicious here. It's far more common for the injured party to
declare "You're shitting me?" "You're kidding?"

: : : : Anyone else? I'd be
interested to know what people under 25 are using.

: : : Yes, I myself often
wonder what they're using.

: : : And now back to the topic: US expressions include
"making [someone] the butt of the joke," "ragging," and "ribbing." "We ribbed
Joe about that new haircut of his until he finally put his hat back on." (From
"rib-tickling"?)

: : These are also known on my side of the pond... but are
they really in everyday contemporary spoken use in the USA of 2002? I'm not qualified
to comment exactly, but I can't help but feel that if I made the comment over
a beer that I'd "ribbed/ragged John Doe from SF over those Niners" or "made him
the butt of a Superbowl gag", although people would know exactly what I mean,
they'd look at me like I was from Mars. Or am I being paranoid?